sapanpatel123

As the title says, I wanted to get my subs installed soon which I have from my previous car, an 03 Honda Civic. :too cool:

So after searching on this forum and Google, I came up with nothing about what happens to the stock sub and amp in my 05 TL with navi. I have questions like, do I disconnect the old amp and use my new one so that the old sub is no longer working? Or do I use both? Will both draw too much power to the battery?

I plan on getting a LOC from a store nearby and the only thing I found was Sears, with this one: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...=SPM1348115201

The specs are:
2005 Acura TL
JL Audio 10w7
JL Audio 500/1 Amp
Line out converter

I'm gonna try to go to best buy for the install but since I've heard they're sometimes clueless to car audio, I'm also looking around.

I just wanted to know these details so in case the installer asks what I wanted to do, whether or not disconnect the old sub and amp, or whatever he does, I'm ready to answer or tell him in advance.

Thanks for your time guys, I really appreciate any help!

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

you have several options.

you can take out your old sub and add the LOC to the stock sub location. the LOC will give you two RCA outs to hook up to your amp.

if your amp has pre-outs, you can connect it directly to the factory amp.

sapanpatel123

Won't the stock amp have too much power then? And I thought every TL had the same sub and amp..

And thanks for the quick response!

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

Dont know what you are asking.
the pre-outs go to your amp and sub combo, meaning it does the same as the LOC.

yes, all 3G's have the same sub and amp.
what are you questioning!?

sapanpatel123

Ohhhh lol nevermind..
So you're saying I can connect my JL amp to my stock amp to get a signal?
Lol sorry I was confused.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

yes, this is one option that you have if your amp can accommodate.

sapanpatel123

Here's what I have and I do see the preamp output on the left..so this means nothing will go on the amplifier input section right?

http://www.soundzgood2me.com/wp-cont...0_1_ALUFRT.jpg

And this way both my stock sub and aftermarket sub will work.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

and this is where my knowledge ends.
some one else will chime in.

sapanpatel123

Lol thanks.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

you dont want your stock sub to fire.
its best to remove it.

sapanpatel123

I can simply unplug it without physically removing it, right?

MOS805

Yes you can unplug it without removing it, that's how I have mine currently. It is better to remove the sub and seal off the holes/sound deaden up there but that involves removing the back seat which for me is too much hassle until I have a real reason to remove it. Theres two ways you can go about getting the signal, one is using your LOC and getting signal from your factory sub speaker wires. But since your JL amp can accept the factory balanced inputs (although I don't know that it matters much with just the low end sub frequencies) you can splice into the signal preamp and get a cleaner, flatter response. The factory amp is located in the passenger side kick panel you would splice into the yellow/black and light green/red wires to get your sub signal and run the rca back to your amplifier.

sapanpatel123

I think I'm gonna leave my just unplugged cause same for me, it's too much of a hassle to get to the sub and take it out and seal it. I think I'll take the preamp approach and forget about the LOC idea again as you said because of the cleaner response.

Do you know which wire, yellow/black or light green/red is positive or negative?

Thanks for your help!

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

you'll want to remove the sub.
it acts as a port into your cabin!

Trunk Monkey

iTrader: (1)

^ Damn...beat me to it lol.

OP...your amp DOES in fact accept balanced inputs so no LOC is needed. Never tried it (it makes sense though) that when just using a sub the effects of a balanced signal are low-passed out of the equation so you wont get noise. Never tested the effects of balanced vs. unbalanced on a subwoofer, but I doubt you'll notice a difference. Speakers on the other hand..you need to do something with the balanced signal or you'll get noise. Here's another thing you need to worry about...


Pre-amp signal vs. Post-amp signal

Since your amp can accept balanced, either one will work...but each is a little different.

Pre-amp: cleaner and more flat than post-amp signal; not crossed over so you can set your own crossover and slope on your amp; you will need to grab this in the passenger kick panel and either run RCA's or speaker wire to wherever the amp is. Check out monoprice.com for their Premium RCA's. Cheap and very nice

Post-amp: factory crossed over so you'll be stuck with whatever freq. the factory sub is crossed at; easier to grab signal than pre-amp as you can just pull down the top trunk liner, find the sub hole in the middle, disconnect the plug and splice RCA's into those wires


...go pre-amp

sapanpatel123

Yeah so just run the RCA cable through the sidings to the passenger kick panel (which I have no idea what it means) to the JL amp, which will be in the trunk. I'm confused as to what justnspace was saying about splicing the yellow and green wires though, because I thought the stock amp had input RCA ports where I can simply plug my JL sub in order to get a connection to the head unit.

Correct me if I'm wrong!

Now I'm thinking about doing this by myself lol.

Trunk Monkey

iTrader: (1)

The stock amp does NOT contain RCA's.

HU -> speaker wires -> plug into amp -> AMP -> different plug for wires coming out of amp that go to individual speakers
............................^ (this is where you want to tap into the signal...aka pre-amp or before the amp)


You will want to put your JL in the trunk and run an RCA down the passenger side. Easy to feed it through while the rear seat is still in if you tape the RCA wires together and then tape them to a straight wire clothes hanger. Then just run it along the passenger side to the "kick panel". Which is this piece that's in the corner. Behind it is the factory amp...

Acura604

do us a favour... try to take photos step by step on this install.. sounds like an awesome DIY!!!

sapanpatel123

Thanks for your info! Haha I was wondering what the kick panel was until now.